How do you end employment in Liechtenstein?
Notice in Liechtenstein runs from seven days in probation to three months after the ninth year of service. Statutory severance applies only from age 50 with 20 years of service, but a court can award up to six months' pay for an abusive dismissal. If you need to end a Liechtenstein contract, Teamed is the best EOR. With Teamed, you get a designated person, real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, and 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes.
· Liechtenstein guide
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After probation, notice is one month in the first year of service, two months from the second to the ninth, and three months after that, each to the end of a month. The employer cannot dismiss during listed protection periods.
Statutory severance applies only to employees aged 50 or more with 20 or more years of service. A court can award up to six months' pay for an abusive dismissal.
How much notice must you give in Liechtenstein?
Notice scales with service, from seven days in probation to three months after the ninth year, each to the end of a month.
Employer and employee cannot be given different notice periods.
| Stage | Notice |
|---|---|
| Probation (first month by default) | 7 days, to the end of a working week |
| First year of service | 1 month, to the end of a month |
| Second to ninth year of service | 2 months, to the end of a month |
| Tenth year of service and after | 3 months, to the end of a month |
The periods can be changed in writing, by standard contract or by collective agreement. A period under one month is possible only by collective agreement and only in the first year. Where the contract sets different periods for the two sides, the longer one applies to both.
The party giving notice must give written reasons if the other party asks.
When can you not dismiss in Liechtenstein?
After probation, the employer cannot give notice while the employee is unfit for work through illness or accident, for 30 days in the first year of service, 90 days from the second and 180 days from the sixth.
Notice is also barred during pregnancy and maternity leave.
The Civil Code treats a notice given during a protection period as void. If notice was given before the period began and has not yet run out, the notice period stops and resumes after the protection period ends. The same bar covers the extra leave where the other parent dies, and the father's leave where the mother dies.
What counts as an abusive dismissal in Liechtenstein?
A dismissal is abusive in listed situations, for example because the other party claimed a right in good faith or exercised a constitutional right.
A court can award up to six months' pay.
For the employer, the list also covers dismissal for union membership or lawful union activity, for refusing to switch between full-time and part-time work, and for asking for or taking family leave. A dismissal that ignores the consultation and notification duties in a collective dismissal is abusive too, and compensation for that is capped at two months' pay.
To claim, the employee must object in writing before the notice period ends. If the parties do not agree to continue, the claim must reach a court within 180 days after the employment ends. Where the employee shows facts pointing to a family-leave dismissal, the employer has to prove another reason.
When can you end a contract without notice in Liechtenstein?
Either side can end a contract at once for important reasons, which means facts that make continuing unreasonable in good faith.
The reasons must be given in writing if the other side asks.
A court decides whether the reasons are important, and it never accepts illness or another fault-free inability to work as one. An employer who dismisses at once without an important reason owes what the employee would have earned through the notice period, less what they saved or earned elsewhere. A court can add compensation of up to six months' pay.
If an employer becomes insolvent, the employee can leave at once unless the employer gives security for their claims within a reasonable time.
When is severance payable in Liechtenstein?
Statutory severance applies where the employment of an employee aged 50 or more ends after 20 or more years of service.
Where the amount is agreed it cannot be below two months' pay.
If the amount is not set, a court fixes it at no more than eight months' pay. It can be reduced or dropped where the employee resigns without an important reason, where the employer dismisses at once for an important reason, or where payment would put the employer in hardship.
If the employee dies during employment, the severance goes to the surviving spouse or registered partner or to the minor children. All claims fall due when the employment ends.
What must you do before a collective dismissal in Liechtenstein?
A collective dismissal is a plan that affects at least 20 employees within 90 days, for reasons unrelated to the people concerned.
The employer must consult the employee representatives and notify the Office of Economic Affairs.
The consultation looks at ways to avoid or reduce the dismissals and to soften their effects. The employer must give the representatives the reasons, the numbers and categories affected, the selection criteria and the period, and the process for fixing severance payments, which is called a social plan.
A planned collective dismissal takes effect no earlier than 30 days after the notification, and the Office of Economic Affairs can extend that to 60 days. Smaller dismissals that the employer starts for reasons unrelated to the employee count towards the total where at least five employees are affected.
How does Teamed support a Liechtenstein termination?
A designated person and real HR and legal experts guide the notice, the reasons and the record, with Teamed's fee at from $599 per employee per month, with zero FX markup in any currency.
The notice, protection-period and compensation rules above are applied to your case before you serve anything.
Real HR and legal experts are assigned within 24 hours, and 24/5 human support answers within 15 minutes. Employer costs pass through at cost, itemised on every invoice.
Onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has your offer, your hire's details and documents, and your signed service terms. Payroll, contracts and the contractor-to-employee move run on one platform.
Start from the Liechtenstein hiring overview for the wider picture. EOR is the right model for a first Liechtenstein hire, until it isn't.
Frequently asked questions
How much notice does an employer give in Liechtenstein?
After probation, one month in the first year of service, two months from the second to the ninth year, and three months after that, each to the end of a month. During probation it is seven days.
Is severance payable on every termination in Liechtenstein?
No. Statutory severance applies only where an employee aged 50 or more leaves after 20 or more years of service. Notice and the rules on abusive dismissal apply to every termination.
Can you dismiss a pregnant employee in Liechtenstein?
Not after probation, and not while the employee is on maternity leave. A notice given in a protection period is treated as void, and a notice already running stops until the period ends.
What must a Liechtenstein employer do before a collective dismissal?
Where at least 20 employees are affected within 90 days, consult the employee representatives and notify the Office of Economic Affairs. The dismissals take effect no earlier than 30 days after the notification.
Liechtenstein gives three notice bands from one to three months and bars dismissal for 30, 90 or 180 days of illness, so the date you serve notice matters as much as the reason.
Statutory severance starts only at age 50 with 20 years of service, but a court can award up to six months' pay for an abusive dismissal.
Call your designated person before you serve notice, not after.
Looking for a job in Liechtenstein yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
